Banned Books

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2006, marks BBW's 25th anniversary (September 23-30).

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

-- The American Library Association

The Weight of Words

There is a difference between discretion and banning. Discretion is supposed to be about selection, about personal preference or, in the case of a specialty bookstore or school library, being aware of the interests and ages of your readers. Banning has more to do with censorship, permission and judgment.

A bookstore might specialize in a certain genre or be for a certain age group. A children's bookstore, for example, probably has mostly picture books and chapter books; I wouldn't expect it to have the newest western paperbacks for adults. Likewise, a shop that specializes in westerns probably wouldn't carry titles for newborns. A librarian at an elementary school might not wish to stock One Hundred Years of Solitude or The Scarlet Letter.

My Favorite Banned Books

The protagonists of my favorite banned/challenged books share the same name: Alice.

First, we have Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, which was banned in China in 1931 because "animals should not use human language" and that it was "disastrous to put animals and human beings on the same level." This book has been made into countless films, both animated and live-action, including the famous Disney feature and multiple mini-series.